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The %path% and .bat files

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First post, by Quasi_Stomach

Posted on 
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In order to play my old DOS games I've configured my WinXP system with a 2GB DOS partition. I have to completely reboot the computer to access it correctly, and half the games I want to play don't even run. DOSBox is the first programs that's allowed me to play some of my favorite games. Even in native DOS, I run into problems with compatibility and speed, but with DOSBox, I get very good performance from pretty much everything I've tried. Here's my question, though:
Does DOSBox allow the setting of the %path% or other command line variables? Or the use of batch files? I've got several batch files setup that normally appear in the path when I boot to real DOS, but I can't figure out how to get them to work in DOSBox.

DOSBox is truely, literally a dream come true for me. Thanks sooo much!

Reply 2 of 2, by ArnoldTrembley

Posted on 
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With a little experimentation, I found that it is possible to set the path:

SET PATH=Z:\;C:\

SET (by itself, will display the environment variables, but redirection with > does not work for getting environment variables)

The PATH command is not supported.

Also CD (CHDIR) doesn't work the way I expected it to.

CD C:\ does not work, but simply typing C: at the prompt does work.

CD.. works, if you're trying to go back up from a subdirectory.

I have tried out some simple .bat files, and they work, but you will have problems if the .bat file contains commands that DOSBOX doesn't support, like PATH for example. So it's not possible to get the contents of an enviroment variable in a .bat file. I miss XCOPY. I haven't tried SHIFT or IF, but IF should be supported.

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